Preparation of N-, O-, and S-Tri-Doped Biochar through One-Pot Pyrolysis of Poplar and Urea Formaldehyde and Its Enhanced Removal of Tetracycline from Wastewater
Wenran Gao,
Zixiang Lin,
Shanshan Yan,
Yaxuan Gao,
Hong Zhang,
Xun Hu,
Hongqi Sun,
Shu Zhang
Affiliations
Wenran Gao
Joint International Research Laboratory of Biomass Energy and Materials, Co-Innovation Center of Efficient Processing and Utilization of Forest Resources, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, China
Zixiang Lin
Joint International Research Laboratory of Biomass Energy and Materials, Co-Innovation Center of Efficient Processing and Utilization of Forest Resources, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, China
Shanshan Yan
Joint International Research Laboratory of Biomass Energy and Materials, Co-Innovation Center of Efficient Processing and Utilization of Forest Resources, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, China
Yaxuan Gao
Joint International Research Laboratory of Biomass Energy and Materials, Co-Innovation Center of Efficient Processing and Utilization of Forest Resources, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, China
Hong Zhang
Joint International Research Laboratory of Biomass Energy and Materials, Co-Innovation Center of Efficient Processing and Utilization of Forest Resources, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, China
Xun Hu
School of Material Science and Engineering, University of Jinan, Jinan 250022, China
Hongqi Sun
School of Engineering, Edith Cowan University, 270 Joondalup Drive, Joondalup, WA 6027, Australia
Shu Zhang
Joint International Research Laboratory of Biomass Energy and Materials, Co-Innovation Center of Efficient Processing and Utilization of Forest Resources, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, China
In this study, biochar was prepared via hybrid doping of N, O, and S by applying one-pot pyrolysis of poplar wood and S-containing urea formaldehyde at 900 °C. Different doping ratios were adopted, and the contents of O, N, and S were in the ranges of 2.78–5.56%, 2.16–4.92%, and 1.42–4.98%, respectively. This hybrid doping significantly enhanced the efficiency of the removal of tetracycline (40 mg/L) from wastewater to 71.84% in comparison with that attained by using normal poplar biochar (29.45%). The adsorption kinetics and isotherms indicated that the adsorption process was favorable and was dominated by chemisorption instead of physisorption; the dominant adsorption process may be justified by the existence of abundant functional groups. The adsorption capacity was barely related to the surface area (R2 = 0.478), while it was closely related to the concentration of graphitic N (R2 = 0.985) because graphitic N enhanced the π–π interactions. The adsorption capacity was also highly related to the proportion of oxidized N and oxidized S owing to hydrogen bonding, which may have overlapped with the contribution of O-containing functional groups. This study presents a simple hybrid doping method for biochar modification and provides fundamental insights into the specific effects of O-, N- and S-containing functional groups on the performance of biochar for tetracycline removal.
